When Women Gather to Talk Food and Climate: Corporate Workshop

Sometimes the most powerful conversations happen when we gather around food — not just to eat, but to explore how our everyday choices can heal both ourselves and our planet.

Earlier this spring, I had the honour of speaking at the Women’s Excellence Alliance Spring Networking Session, and I left feeling deeply energized by the conversation that unfolded. The room was full of engaged, motivated women proving something I’ve always believed: when we create space for honest discussion about sustainability, people are hungry (pun intended!) for practical ways to make a difference. 

The Eating with Benefits™ Framework in Action

During our fireside chat, we explored my Eating with Benefits™ framework — five principles that show how the food that’s good for us at a personal level is the same food that supports the health and prosperity of our planet. Drawing on research from the EAT-Lancet Commission and Food & Mood research, along with traditional wisdom, this framework can be customized to your life, helping you cook and eat in ways that benefit both people and the planet.

The conversation flowed beautifully as we discussed each principle:

Diversifying our diets by trying something new each day — doubling our vegetables, exploring new grains, experimenting with flavours, herbs and spices — we not only nourish our body and the gut microbiome, we also do what’s essential to remedy the Biodiversity crisis. 

Moving away from meat. Livestock farming uses an incredible amount of our planet’s resources, water, soil, energy, and it causes enormous harm too. Start by cutting the meat consumption in half, and go on from there. 

The power of pulses — nutritious, affordable legumes like lentils, chickpeas, and beans are the powerhouses we need for our personal health and for the environment too. Packed with protein, fibre, and flavour, they are genuinely delicious and planet-friendly.

We also talked about reducing what we throw away by shopping and choosing more mindfully (buy only what you need), avoiding single-use plastics, and supporting businesses that prioritize low-waste practices. And finally, shopping local while thinking global — supporting locally made food, grown, and processed in Canada, eating seasonally when possible, and supporting producers who understand their local communities.

What excited me most was how the conversation expanded beyond these practical strategies into the deeper connections between what’s on our plates and what’s happening to our planet.

After all, our food choices aren’t just personal decisions. They’re signals we send to the food system, votes we cast with our wallets, and ripples that extend far beyond our kitchen tables.

The Beautiful Interconnection of It All

What I love about speaking to groups like this is witnessing that moment when the dots connect. When someone realizes that the diverse, plant-forward meals that support their gut health are the same choices that support soil health. When the meal planning strategies that reduce their stress also reduce their carbon footprint. When the cooking practices that bring their family together around the dinner table also contribute to a more sustainable future for all.

This isn’t about perfection or deprivation — it’s about abundance. It’s about discovering that what’s good for us truly is good for the planet, and the other way around too.

Gratitude and Looking Forward

Thank you to the incredible team at Women’s Excellence Alliance, and the planning committee, for inviting me and creating such a welcoming space for this conversation. And to everyone who attended — your questions, your stories, and your enthusiasm reminded me why this work matters so much. 

Finally, thank you for cooking dishes from my book, Good Food, Healthy Planet. It was incredible to see food that I am so familiar with come to life so beautifully from someone else’s kitchen.   

If you missed the event but want to dive deeper into these ideas, you can find many of these practical tips and the science behind them in Good Food, Healthy Planet. If you are part of a community or corporate organization and would like to host an event like this, drop me a note. 

But more than anything, I hope you’ll start your own conversations in your communities. Because when women gather to talk about creating change—whether in our kitchens, our families, or our world—powerful things happen.

Ready to explore the connection between your health and the planet’s health? Good Food, Healthy Planet offers practical strategies, scientific insights, and optimistic guidance for your sustainable living journey.